A planet-hunter's ode to Kepler, inspired by W.H. Auden

NASA

NASA's announcement that the Kepler planet-hunting telescope may be near the end of its scientific life inspired a UC Berkeley astrophysicist to write a poem based on W.H. Auden's "Funeral Blues."

NASA's announcement that the Kepler planet-hunting telescope may be near the end of its scientific life inspired a UC Berkeley astrophysicist to write a poem based on W.H. Auden's "Funeral Blues." (NASA)

Amina Khan

Though NASA’s Kepler spacecraft isn’t dead yet, a serious malfunction aboard the space telescope may mean its days of planet hunting have come to an untimely end.

"I wouldn’t call Kepler down and out just yet," John Grunsfeld, the head of NASA's science missions, said at a news conference Wednesday.

Even with faint hopes still alive -- and with plenty of unanalyzed data in the can that will keep scientsits busy for years -- astronomers and planetary scientists expressed their dismay through social media.

Geoff Marcy, a UC Berkeley astrophysicist and co-investigator with the Kepler mission, expressed his grief through poetry. Here is his take on W.H. Auden's "Funeral Blues," astronomy-style: